SUPPLEMENT.— BERBERIDACEil^.. 663 



1. P. pcltatiiin (Linn.) : stamens 12-18; loaves 5-7-|)artetl ; the scgiiiputs 

 cuneilbrm-obIonl,^ .somewhat lobed or toollied al llic aj>ex. 



8. CROOMIA. Torn in ann. hjc. NcwYork, 1. p. . , (.7. (ine.l.) 



Sepals 4, broadly oval, somewhat eoriaeeous, persistent. Petals none. 

 Stamens 4, opposite the sepals : filaments thicU : anthers oblong, ()bli(|urly 

 introrse, immovable ; the cells somewhat separate, opening; longitudinally 

 their whole length. Ovary globose-ovate, with 4-fi suspended ovules : stig- 

 ma sessile, capitate, minute. Fruit dry and indehiscent ? coriaceous, ovate, 

 compressed, attenuate into an obtuse beak. Seeds 1-2, suspended from the 

 summit of the cell, nearly covered with a copious fimbriated arillus ; tho 

 testa crustaceous, rugose longitudinally. — A perennial herb, with a horizontal 

 branching rhizoma (like that of Leontice thalictroides), throwing up .several 

 short simple stems, with membranous sheaths at the base. Leaves oblong- 

 ovate, cordate at the base, membranaceous, entire, approximate or crowded 

 at the summit of the stem, o-9-ribbed ; tlie ribs convergent to the apex; the 

 veinlets reticulated. Peduncles axillary, 2-3-flowercd : pedicels filiform, 

 articulated in the middle. Flowers small, greenish-white and purplish. 



C. yaudjlora (Torr. ! 1. c.) — Cissamjielos jjaucidora. Null. I in jour, 

 acad. Plillad. 7. p. 115. Auonymos discoroides, doom. ! in Sill. jour. 

 28. p. 165. 



Aspalaga, Middle Florida, on the Apalachicola P-iver, under the shade of 

 Torreya taxifolia, Mr. Croom! Dr. Cluqmian! April. — Root of thick 

 fibres from a slender yellowish rhizoma. Stem erect, slender, 8-12 inches 

 high : tlie whole plant glabrous. Leaves alternate, but usually ap])roxi- 

 mated so as to appear verticillale : petiole about an inch long ; the lamina 

 2-4 inches, acute, with the venation of Dioscorea or Sniilax. Peduncles re- 

 curved, about the length of the petioles : pedicels 2-3, or sometimes solitary. 

 Flowers about 2 lines in diameter. Sejials concave, rather obtuse, persistent 

 until the fruit is ripe, purplish towards the base, obscurely 3-5-nerved, im- 

 bricated. Filaments about half the length of the sepals, semiterote, purplish : 

 anthers yellow, inserted by a broad base on the summit of the filament, some- 

 what between innate and adnate, the face directed upwards and inwardly. 

 Ovary simple, marked with a slight sutural groove on each side opposite the 

 exterior sepals, with 6-8 anatropous ovules susjjcnded from the summit of 

 the cell: stigma a glandular entire protuberance. Fruit about one-third of 

 an inch long, compressed laterally, with an abrupt curved beak ; the ventral 

 suture marked with a deep groove, which extends to the summit of the beak. 

 Seeds ovoid : raphe and chalaza evident : arillus large, divided into innume- 

 rable terete processes, which envelojje the seed. Embryo very minute, at the 

 base of copious fleshy albumen. — We consider this plant as a reduced form 

 of Berberidaceaj : it Is however remarkable for its persistent sepals, suspend- 

 ed seeds, and in being apetalous. Nandina agrees with it in the dehiscence 

 of the anthers. It would be impossible to determine from the habit of the 

 plant whether it were dicotyledonous or monocotyledonous ; and the embryo 

 is so minute that the cotyledons cannot be distinguished ; but the structure of 

 the rhizoma is exogenous, a circle of spiral vessels surrounding the central 

 pith. — The genus was established several years since, in a paper read before 

 the Lyceum of Natural History, New York ; and named in honor, now alas ! 

 in memory, of its discoverer, the late Henry B. Croom, Esq., author of a mo- 

 nograph oV Sarracenia, and of other papers on the plants of Florida and the 

 Southern States. 



